The invention relates to improvements in apparatus for transmission of torque in motor vehicles. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for transmission of torque between the engine and the variable-speed transmission in a motor vehicle
Published German patent application No. 37 21 706 of Wolfgang Reik (published Jan. 7, 1988) discloses a torque transmitting apparatus wherein a primary flywheel is connectable with the output element of the engine in a motor vehicle and a secondary flywheel is connectable with the input element of the variable-speed transmission by engaging a friction clutch. A bearing is interposed between the two flywheels, and the primary flywheel can transmit torque to the secondary flywheel by way of a damper having circumferentially acting energy storing elements which are installed in a toroidal chamber of the primary flywheel.
Torque transmitting apparatus of the above outlined character are popular in many types of motor vehicles. At the present time, such apparatus have found acceptance in relatively large motor vehicles with longitudinally extending engine-transmission aggregates and with considerable amount of space for installation of a rather bulky torque transmitting apparatus having a composite flywheel between the engine and the transmission. However, and even though they exhibit numerous desirable features which would render them equally useful in compact vehicles with little room under the hood, the aforedescribed apparatus are not used in smaller vehicles, particularly in vehicles with transversely extending engines and transmissions, because presently known apparatus are too bulky for installation in compact cars and in other conveyances wherein the space between the engine and the transmission is at a premium. Accordingly, there exists an urgent need to provide a torque transmitting apparatus which employs a composite flywheel and is sufficiently compact and inexpensive to be capable of being out to use in smaller cars including those wherein the engine-transmission aggregate does not extend in the direction of forward movement of the vehicle.